Iowa’s presidential electors have officially cast the state’s six Electoral College votes for Republican President-Elect Donald Trump and Vice President-Elect JD Vance.
Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate said just over 927,000 Iowans cast their vote for Trump.
The six electors were chosen for this role at the Republican congressional district and state conventions. They met at the Iowa Capitol Tuesday morning, took an oath, marked their ballots, which were tallied by Pate and Governor Kim Reynolds.
Congress is scheduled to count the nation’s 538 Electoral College votes on January 6th.
*Additionally, a Tuesday evening meeting in Sioux City marks a chance for residents to learn more on steps that could follow if they have lead in pipelines that bring water to their homes.
Those lines that contain lead will have to be removed within the next 13 years to comply with a federal rule.
City of Sioux City officials in November contacted 7,300 people who are believed to have a service line where lead may be present. Those people are invited to the 6 p.m. meeting at the Tyson Events Center downtown, to learn more on what lies ahead.
Residents can also sign up to get their water tested to see lead levels. City officials are still determining if city revenues will be directed to people who need new piping.
As part of Lead and Copper Rule revisions, the Environmental Protection Agency has mandated a series of requirements that all 60,000 public water systems in the U.S. must meet by October 2037.
*In other news, the governors of Nebraska and Iowa have joined 20 other Republican Party governors in a letter urging U.S. Senate leaders to confirm South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem as next secretary of the Department of Homeland Security.
Noem is the pick by President-elect Donald Trump. If approved, she would become the first South Dakotan to serve as a president’s Cabinet secretary.
If that happens, get ready to learn more about Larry Rhoden.
Rhoden is South Dakota’s current lieutenant governor. He is a 65-year-old rancher from Meade County, who would be thrust into the spotlight as the state’s 34th governor.
Rhoden has spent 22 holding elected office. That includes 10 years in the state house, where he served as House Majority Leader, plus six years in the state senate and six in his current role.
Rhoden would be the third lieutenant governor to succeed a governor.
Former Republican legislator Lee Schoenbeck said Rhoden has a steady hand to handle the role from a legislative perspective. Schoenbeck voiced a contrast in style between Noem and Rhoden, in terms of focus on day-to-day operations at the Capitol.
South Dakota News Watch reports that Rhoden would preside over an important 2025 legislative session fraught with budgetary battles and Republican infighting, all while potentially preparing for a 2026 gubernatorial election in which he would be the incumbent candidate.
As for the federal agency that Noem could lead, the Department of Homeland Security was formed in response to the 9/11 attacks of 2001. It began operations in 2003 and is the third-largest Cabinet department behind the Department of Defense and Department of Veterans Affairs.
*Additionally, the Iowa Supreme Court heard arguments Tuesday in a case that’ll determine if Iowans can get voting materials in languages other than English.
The League of United Latin American Citizens of Iowa sued the state three years ago to reverse a ban on non-English ballots and voter registration forms.
A Polk County District Court judge ruled in their favor last year. The state appealed, arguing Iowa’s so-called English Only Law bars non-English voting materials.
Uzoma Nkwonta argued for LULAC that translated voting materials are necessary for non-English speakers to exercise their right to vote. He says Congress recognized that in the Voting Rights Act.
"Congress did not require all jurisdictions to provide those materials, because they obviously have to balance election administration. But it’s already established that it’s necessary to secure the right to vote.”
A lawyer for the state says they’re not needed because voters can ask people to translate their voting documents.
